SAITM ready to cooperate with Govt. proposals

The South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) said yesterday it was willing to cooperate with the Government in formalising a just and expeditious solution for its MBBS students subject to court proceedings.

SAITM Chairman Dr. Neville Fernando said they would abide by the laws of the country and extend their fullest support to the Sri Lankan Government.

He said SAITM had decided to complement the higher education sector of Sri Lanka by providing opportunities to qualified students line with the regulations of the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Higher Education and that SAITM would also extend its fullest support to the Government's efforts in maintaining quality standards in medical education in Sri Lanka.

The statement said Dr. Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) is well equipped with state of the art technology and consisted of all relevant units needed for undergraduate medical training.

It said the SAITM medical graduates were trained by a highly qualified panel of academics consisting of 19 professors and more than 70 senior lecturers who have served in the State medical universities and hospitals.

Health Ministry on Friday decided to bring the NFTH under the purview of the Health Ministry and to conduct a mandatory examination under the joint supervision of the SLMC and the University Grants Commission (UGC) prior to providing SAITMs medical graduates provisional registration. The Health Ministry will also gazette the minimum standards required for medical education in Sri Lanka.

The Higher Education Ministry announced that SAITM graduates would be given a further period of clinical training in Surgery, Medicine, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Psychiatry, Paediatrics for one month each in Homagama and Avissawella Hospitals.